Latest Posts

Nekomata · Jun 9, 2026

Iridescentone said:
Do the Ashdown's have the oiled finish applied to the back of the necks like the Lakins?

Yup, the neck has a 'tru oil' finish.

Gilmourisgod · Jun 9, 2026

Yeah, 32” medium scale is my favorite, the perfect compromise. Easy enough to re-scale once you have the body dimensions worked out, in that case maybe start at the G string saddle location and work outward, 16” from G string saddle to center of 12th fret, then double it to center of 0 fret ( or inside face of nut).

Paul New · Jun 9, 2026

I liked hearing Larry Grenadier’s perspective on the role of the bass. For my ears he’s one of the strongest, most identifiable, voices on the instrument right now.

Ron Carter’s first instrument was cello, and his goal as a student was to play cello in an orchestra. He developed the skill to do so, and was told as much by prominent musicians, but was denied an opportunity due to…guess what?
That’s right, his skin color. There was no such prohibition in jazz, but cello isn’t in demand on the band stand, so bass was an obvious choice. Maybe that explains his desire to play baby bass? I don’t know who enjoys his playing on that instrument.

As for his intonation, who’s heard a double bassist who plays in tune? I think it’s just about impossible to play the instrument in tune. The best we can hope for is enough ambiguity that no one notices. Unless we’re Dave Holland. So to contradict myself, I confess to having heard no issue with Scott LaFaro’s tuning, and I love his sound. Was Israel Crosby playing a similar concept before Scott?

Mr Carter almost certainly has diminished hearing by now, and I would like to use that to excuse his choice of strings too. But he’s done so much brilliant work, he doesn’t need me to defend him.

BTW, Jackie McLean chose to play slightly, sometimes more than slightly, sharp. It’s intentional, part of his sound. That is an easy thing to do on alto saxophone, since it tends sharp in a couple of areas in its range.

Btbp · Jun 8, 2026

Watching, for future reference.

My WT-400 works now, but after using it in Japan for years then in Singapore with a stepdown transformer it stopped working and had a local guy fix it, but he said it had some issues.

DonaldR · Jun 8, 2026

shirojiro said:
That Joyo micro cube amp looks pretty cool. It has Bluetooth and looks like it can be a audio interface via USB.

30 watts!

A bit late but OP hasn't come up with a conclusion.

I received my Joyo BA-30 yesterday. My verdict: very nice little amp if you don't want to play loud, like in the living room. I have mine on a table next to my couch AND close to the rear wall, this makes a difference since there's a passive radiator on the back of the amp.

I had a Boss Micro Cube long time ago at the same spot on that table and I really like the concept of having my electric guitar always plugged in and having to only push the power button to start playing. So I'm doing the same thing now but with my bass, always connected and ready to play in 2 seconds. Having the Joyo on your shelf with a Joyo JW-02S/03wireless and using BA-30 built-in bluetooth for backing track could be a cool setup.

The OTG usb connection is working very well BTW, I'm using it mainly for a tuner app on my iPhone but also tested with Garageband for recording (input 1) and also with amp/cab plugins (input 2) without any noticeable latency.

Overall very satisfied.

Starrchild · Jun 8, 2026

Malak the Mad said:
I'll admit it…I'm more than a little jealous!

There are three, new Sires that have caught my eye…your Mercury V7, the Dark Forest V7 and the Midnight Blueburst V3.

For better or worse, I've recently acquired a Squier James Johnston Jazz I'd been long hungering for, as well as a few of Projekts that I'm dragging my feet on, so I absolutely cannot justify a purchase…dammit!!

They came out with some nice colors for 2026

Major Seven · Jun 8, 2026

BassicJazzy said:
I think it's a holdover from the 60's guitar solos. Ted Nugent's hollow body Gibson is still sustaining notes from "Journey to the Center of the Mind" in alternate dimensions of the multiverse, even now.

I can still hear the first the first time I heard Hendrix. The first note of Foxy Lady.

Edgar Lujan · Jun 8, 2026

9c1ny said:
Its Class Axe era, bolt on limits its value, because its atypical it'll either sell instantly or kick around for awhile. Personally I'd take anything over a grand and run

Definitely its atypical I bought it around 94 brand new, it was heavily discounted it sat in the store for a few years before I bought it. It was one of those instruments with very old strings once I changed the strings it came to life it sounded great people would complement how good it sounded, pickups are active with no preamp just a 9 volt it definitely has its own sound. I guess the mahogany wood has something to do with its timbre too.

garrett2 · Jun 8, 2026

I saw her with Joel Ross. Loved her sound.

DaveParker39 · Jun 8, 2026

There have been a couple mentions/threads on some of their pedals, but making a new one to kinda seek feedback on any of the pedals particularly as it relates to bass.

Obviously the Bass Boy is the most obviously bass-centric pedal in their line, curious if anyone else has tried that or their various comps (Outer Limit, 2-Track Tape, etc.)

I have seen a billion ads for their stuff and it looks cool, but wondering if any TBers have more experience with any of their line. Also thoughts on customer service/quality welcome.

The Outer Limit Diode Compressor

STUDIO STYLE DIODE COMPRESSOR (CLEAN, SMOOTH) Sometimes you just need to get the job done. You don't need a million knobs or disco lights or a little fan...

templodevices.com

2 Track Tape-Style Compressor

PRESALE, Unit will be shipped approximately mid-JULY STEREO COMPRESSION/BOOST (Heavily colored, Mild Distortion) I spotted a diode compressor circuit in an e...

templodevices.com

Pocket Studio Comp

COMPRESSOR After 3 years of research and development, it is finally ready! Inspired by the joy experienced while using high-quality compressors when recordin...

templodevices.com

Bass Boy

JFET PREAMP / OPTICAL COMP / EQ / D.I. The Bass Boy is my offering of a bass pedal for my friend Emilio to give him his complete performance tone in one box....

templodevices.com

Mrmatt1972 · Jun 8, 2026

el murdoque said:
7 Strings are for people that think 6 string basses are too mainstream and they need something even more niche.

The cons are the obvious:
-very niche means very little options in terms of buying strings
-It also means this will be hard to sell for a good price once you want to part ways
-It's even heavier than a six.
-You either get a guitar string on top or a bridge cable down low.
-You will have to come up with good replies to hearing harp-jokes

The pros are:
-More strings give you more options, if you know what to do with them.
-You will soon know all the popular and most of the less popular harp-jokes when you bring it to gigs.
-Max from Pyramid Strings will probably start sending you Christmas cards.

Really?

Hmm. Judgemental much?

I own 2. And two six strings, a fiver snd 3 four strings and an upright. I choose them because I like them.

I also have like 9 guitars, a piano and various percussion instruments.

Maybe people who play seven string just hear better than those who don’t

m2k2p · Jun 8, 2026

Tony Grey has a new free course to help one self-diagnose where they are in different aspects of their playing . Whether you chose to study with him or not I I thought this might be useful.to most players to help figure out what they need to work on.

Course 1/12: Find your Level - Tony Grey Bass Academy

tonygreybassacademy.com

Dincrest · Jun 8, 2026

Spectors and Corvettes are definitely a "try before you buy" bass in terms of ergonomics for anyone of any size.

I once had a German-made Warwick Corvette 4 and once had a Czech-made Spector ReBop 5. In both cases, the basses hung too horizontally for my tastes (due to the short upper horns), the compact bodies and bridge placements made the necks jut too far out to the left... first position (aka the "money notes") felt like a miles away reach for me (especially with the ReBop's 35" scale). I once tried a Warwick RockBass Streamer in a store and... too horizontally balanced making first position a long and awkward reach.

And I'm about 5'10 with long orangutan arms. You would THINK my body would be fine with Spector and Warwick ergonomics, but it isn't. Every body is different.

Alejandea "Ale" Villareal of The Warning is somewhere around 5'6" or 5'7" and those 35" scale Spector 5-strings are no problem for her.

The one thing I liked about Spector was the curved back body. That was nice.

That Ibanez RB850 looks like it's an extension of you. Killer find!

davec · Jun 8, 2026

Not too many.

Nuisance · Jun 8, 2026

I've had two of those units over the years. Never had a noise problem.

Have you tried engaging the ground lift?

The only reason I moved on was because the compressor was janky and it had a very noticeable spike in high mids.

vvvmmm · Jun 8, 2026

I don't use verb on bass much but when I do I use the only one I know of intended for bass, from Dr. Green.

RSmith · Jun 8, 2026

I've had this one 3 weeks and love it! I've owned a few of these 5H and 5HH Stingray Special 5's before and this one is indeed Special to me.. So good, and blue too!

WouldULikeSomeE · Jun 8, 2026

Misha Adair said:
So, I wanted to post my experience ordering and taking delivery of a custom bass made by Imanol Egilegor - a luthier working out of Basque country in Spain. Apologies for the length of this, but hoping someone gets something out of it and also hope anyone in the market for something custom thinks about an Egilegor, because I reckon the man's work is exceptional.

I'd been thinking (and also saving) for a few years and going back and forth between my options for a properly nice bass - something from Warwick? A Fender P Deluxe or Elite? Maybe a high-end Yamaha (I have had a long infatuation with their intermediate models)? In the end the P didn't excite me enough. The Yamahas ditto. I adore Warwicks but their custom shop prices are... up there. For what I was interested in I was almost in Fodera territory. Really serious money that I couldn't afford and wouldn't really feel comfortable spending even in the universe where saving it was possible. And I had some specific features I started to feel really invested in: tenor tuning, a single-cut, neck-through construction, a short/medium scale.

Then one day on Instagram I come across a photo of an Egilegor Ardabakar bass. And I was captivated. Have a poke around his gallery of completed basses here. I had a sniff around his website and the prices seemed crazy good - under a quarter of what I'd be paying for a custom Warwick, under a fifth of a Fodera, and some really interesting, off-the-wall options too: check out his pickup designs and you'll see what I mean.

So I took the plunge - I ordered a neck-through five string Ardabakar (his single-cut model). 32" scale, stainless steel frets, birdseye maple board on a maple neck, bubinga wings and swirly bubinga top. Matching headstock, block inlays, birdseye maple pickup covers, luminlay side-dots. Schaller bridge and tuners. Aguilar OBP3. Egilegor's Jazz Humbuckers, which are wired for series/parallel switches and selectors that allow me to pick between each individual coil of each humbucker. The switches and the blend control essentially give me access to sixteen distinct tonal voices, and I'm not counting active/passive or manipulating the three-band EQ - nuts.

The completed instrument looks like this, although this doesn't quite do it justice, I don't think:
View attachment 4398652
View attachment 4398656
Imanol sent me updates and pictures throughout the process, and - in the midst of COVID and my city in hard lockdown - organised shipping so well that it got from Spain to my door in Melbourne, Australia in three days flat. At the start of the process he also gently set me right when some of my ideas were dumb (I ordered neck widths at the nut and twelfth fret that made no sense and he wisely recommended a chambered body to keep the weight down).

I have to admit it's a nervy experience transferring significant sums of money to someone you found on Instagram and and also pretty frightening to spec out a bass in full for the first time (I thought so, anyway). But I've had the instrument for just under two months now and I could not be happier. I grin every time I see it and I find it hard to put down.

I think that the Aguilar OBP is an incredible, poetically beautiful preamp, but on this bass I hardly use it - the passive voice is just... so good. Neck-through construction gives it midrange clarity and articulation like I've never experienced before and the rigid weight of the bubinga (even with chambers this is 4.2kg) has low-end and sustain for days. Imanol makes his necks based on MTDs - it's a compound shape on the back that is incredibly comfortable and in a natural oil finish it's wicked smooth and fast. I'm still getting to know it, but it sounds like this. (This is passive, all EQ flat, tone knob at about 10 o'clock for a touch of brightness, both pickups in humbucking parallel mode - going into Logic with a bit of reverb through a Scarlett 6i6.)

I get that I must sound like a total shill at this point - sorry about that. For what it's worth I'm writing and posting this entirely because I'm super impressed with this instrument and wanted to share my experience here. Be happy to field any questions anyone has but seriously, if you're in the market for something custom and you've got your own individual ideas about what you want I cannot recommend these basses, and luthier, enough.

Replying to this a bit late, but roughly how long did it take to build, and was it a deposit or all up front? I contacted them a while ago about a bubinga 6 string fretless and assumed they never replied, turned out it was in my spam box. I've since gotten a Warwick that scratches that itch, however I'm in the market for a nice hollowbody fretless and they seem perfect.

Pep · Jun 8, 2026

Tim1 said:
I sold my 800+ and replaced it with the 800D . Best move I ever made. I also have a Forte but the 800D gets all the work.

I had a Forte D that I loved but when I got the 800D, I realized I really didn’t need abd never used it. It was a great amp, no doubt, but the 800D is in a totally different league.

DiabolusInMusic · Jun 8, 2026

Unradials said:
I have those books and i learned sinister minister, you cant hold no groove classical thump, thumb start my harley, victors jam and amazing grace. Now im practicing the lesson emgtv version but the problem i never studied music theory.

Are you wanting to study music theory? If so:

https://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Theory-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/1883217040/ref=pd_lpo_14_t_0/142-3008410-3704959?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1883217040&pd_rd_r=c9145d14-f796-443e-8108-bca933a69b9a&pd_rd_w=27zsa&pd_rd_wg=SqTio&pf_rd_p=7b36d496-f366-4631-94d3-61b87b52511b&pf_rd_r=40NGX4RQ3Y85B7NKK0DG&psc=1&refRID=40NGX4RQ3Y85B7NKK0DG

This is a great resource that will help you understand harmony.

4Mal · Jun 8, 2026

Sounds good!

Bander · Jun 8, 2026

loukash said:
If you don't have it yet, make sure to install the accompanying EV app on your phone or iPad. Even though all functions are available on the speaker via the small display (which I also consider well designed, in fact), the remote app editing is way more comfortable because you can do that easily from distance.

I do, but must have scanned too quickly. Ill look more closely!

bummler · Jun 8, 2026

Ah, I missed that. Well, thanks Matt, if you read this again.

As for the Jazzbomb replacement, I’m happy with it so far. I felt like the original Yamaha jazz pickup had a nice bite to it that I was worried about losing with a humbucker, but I think it’s a solid replacement. And there really is no hum from it, which is what I was trying to solve for.

The one thing I didn’t like about it is that the mounting tabs are at the base of the pickup, as opposed to on a cover like the original. That means the springs and screws that came with the pickup are way too long for the Yamaha. You’ll need to get some shorter screws or you’ll penetrate the back of the bass (don’t ask me how I know this).

Also, the wiring on the Jazzbomb ties together in the middle of bottom of the pickup, as opposed to the side, so I ended up having to cut a channel in the piece of foam I installed underneath the pickup, otherwise it was sticking up way too far.

These are by no means dealbreakers, but something to consider during the installation.

In addition to the sonic quality, I love the that the rail pickup harkens back to older BBs.

Michael Vee · Jun 8, 2026

As it turned out, Ibanez does make a gig bag that fits the AEGBs: Ibanez PowerPad IABB540.

IABB540 | BAGS | ACCESSORIES-BAGS | PRODUCTS | Ibanez guitars

IABB540 at Ibanez. Ibanez offers electric guitars, bass guitars, acoustic guitars, effect and pedals, amps, plus guitar accessories like tuners, straps and picks.

www.ibanez.com

Now how well it fits, I don't know. It probably is sized longer than the AEGB so it can also fit 34" scale AEBs as well.

Hot Rats · Jun 8, 2026

M.R. Ogle said:
By the way, are those TV amps cloth tweed or tolex tweed?

Cloth.

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